Getting healthier

March 23, 2008 | 6:28 pm

No doubt the schedule for the Lakers opens up over the next week or so... but not until they wrap up a home and home against the Warriors, starting tonight. GSW may be an eight seed in the W.C., but they could very well win 50 and clearly don't suck. There aren't a lot of teams more fun to watch, either. Down a couple centers, the Lakers won't have the heft advantage they normally wield over the Warriors tonight. While you never want to get into a track meet with Golden State, it wouldn't surprise me to see a very healthy pace to this one. Hopefully, though, LA can do what they always do when they're successful- get the ball down low, and work from the inside out. One of the best weapons a team can use against Golden State is a selective offense. Take good shots, in rhythm, and limit easy run outs.

The back-to-back thing has been kind to LA this year, a major reason they currently sit atop the W.C. 12-3 on the front end, 10-5 on the back. That includes seven sweeps. Contrast it to last season, when they were 7-10 in the first game, 8-9 in the second, toss in improvements in other areas, and it's another indication of the team's growth.

Other interesting stats: The Lakers are 38-7 when they out dime the opposition, and 33-6 when five or more players reach double figures. All are compelling arguments to keep the ball moving and everyone involved.

NOTES:

Pau Gasol won't make the trip to Oakland tomorrow, likely won't be ready for Charlotte on Wednesday, and may not be ready for Friday's game against Memphis, either. PJ didn't rule the latter game out, but if there's even the slightest question, he'll sit. I, and he, would like to think the Lakers could take Memphis without him. But overall, the Lakers seem very pleased with his recovery process. They hope he'll be out on the floor more this week.
Chris Mihm hopes to rejoin practice later in the week, though he'll be cautious about overloading his foot before he sees how it responds. At this point, Mihm is understandably gun shy about timetables, but hopes he finally has turned the corner. Copy from him is below.
PJ talked about integrating Gasol and Bynum back on the floor when they're ready to go, and not surprisingly, he had no worries about putting Pau out there. No re-integration time required. It's the combination of them together that will take a little getting used to. Where guys rotate on defense, who has what role in transition, etc. The little stuff that matters big time.

Click below for the Mihm copy, via AK.

Knock on wood, there's some good news on "The Chris Mihm Watch" front. He's hoping this week will feature him participating in practices in some capacity." But before anyone (including himself) gets too optimistic upon hearing that, don't expect him to start going full speed in five-on-five scrimmages right off the bat. The idea, as he put it, is to "start phasing into practice. Slowly, not just jumping right into a full blown practice. but kind of seeing how the foot responds to different things we throw at it and go from there."

Guarded attitude aside, however, Mihm's happy with how his rehab has progressed ever since removing that screw from his heel. In terms of comfort and being able to play in a manner resembling "pain-free," the difference has been night and day. "Everything we've done so far from running to agility work to cutting on the floor has been great," smiled Mihm. "Just not getting the same irritation and pain that I was getting since the reconstruction." I asked Chris if during the earlier, less successful periods were a matter of thinking the pain would eventually subside or resigning himself to the idea of having to play through pain but it becoing more manageable as he got used to it. Actually, this situation was one rooted in pure realities and practicalities, most of which didn't play in Mihm's favor.

"A lot of things going through the summer, I didn't have a lot of choices," explained Mihm. "My contract expired last season, so I was kind of forced, maybe a little early, to be going around doing work outs for teams. Trying to push myself to get back in shape and prove that I could still play. I might have been a little premature, but you never know. It turned out that this screw needed to come out." In other words, the procedure itself involving the screw would have placed him in this same position at some point, whether he'd been playing under a new or his previous contract. In any event, that bothersome piece of metal is out and Mihm's confident that the light he's now seeing is the one located at the end of the tunnel. "It's kind of the last hurdle to overcome with this foot." "Being out all least season and the extent of the injury and the surgery, I had to prove that I could play. Now it's a matter of getting this thing fully healthy now and being the player that I was. Being able to move and Play the way that I want to play. I'm going to push myself as hard as I can to get back in shape. Get back some explosion back in my legs and be able to help this team out in whatever way I can."

AK